Updated 27 November 2014. Dr. Kurt Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, spoke at PDAA’s November 24, 2014 luncheon in Washington, D.C. Known for his policy work on the “pivot,” or “rebalance,” to Asia, Campbell discussed the topic of Rising China and Its Challenges for the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific Region.

12 October 2014. Three panels of experts from journalism, government and academia will explore multiple issues of how government officials and media interact, the evolving role of media in shaping opinion and public policy and the special role of international broadcasting. The symposium, entitled More as the Story Develops, takes place on Thursday, 30 October at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 1616 Rhode Island Avenue in Washington, D.C.

8 October 2014. The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) Scholarship Director is seeking to contact current and former public diplomacy colleagues of USIA officer Linda Fitzgerald, who died in December 2013. AFSA plans to name a scholarship after Ms. Fitzgerald, and would like to learn more about her.

AFSA’s Scholarship Program offers academic and art merit awards along with need-based financial aid scholarships to children of Foreign Service employees (active duty and retirees). […]

5 October 2014. Russia canceled its participation in an American high-school exchange program after a teenage Russian boy in Michigan sought political asylum claiming fear of persecution at home for being gay. The Future Leaders Exchange or FLEX program that sponsored the child’s visit is funded by State Department, and administered by American Councils for International Education.